
Shell, Equinor, TotalEnergies to invest $714 million in carbon storage expansion
OSLO, March 27 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab, Equinor (EQNR.OL), opens new tab and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opens new tab said on Thursday they will invest 7.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($713.66 million) into expanding their flagship carbon storage project in western Norway after securing a new customer deal.
The decision comes after the partners signed a 15-year commercial agreement with Stockholm Exergi, opens new tab to transport and store 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year at the Northern Lights facility, they said.
The expansion aims to more than triple the site's annual CO2 injection capacity to at least 5 million tonnes per year, equivalent to roughly 10% of annual emissions in Norway, Shell said in a statement.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has long been highlighted as a way to reduce CO2 emissions but there are few commercial projects in existence, with Norway in 2020 launching the Longship project, which includes the Northern Lights site.
Phase one of Northern Lights was completed in September and can inject 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 per year, with first deliveries expected later this year.
The second phase will add an additional 3.5 million tons a year and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2028, Northern Lights said.
The new infrastructure to be built will include additional onshore storage tanks, pumps, a new jetty and injection wells, as well as additional CO2 transport vessels.
Thursday's investment decision also includes funding from the European Commission via a grant worth 131 million euros ($141.34 million), the companies said.
($1 = 10.5092 Norwegian crowns)
($1 = 0.9269 euros)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
34 minutes ago
- Reuters
Energy majors lock onto Southeast Asia in race for more gas for AI power demand
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Reuters) - Energy majors are pouring money into gas exploration and production in Malaysia and Indonesia to meet rising power demand from growing populations and a proliferation of data centres in the region. The wave of investments come as European majors pivot back to more profitable conventional fuels as countries embark on different energy transition paths, while Southeast Asian governments want more affordable local gas supplies to drive economic growth and improve energy security. At the Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur this week, Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab committed to increasing its investments in Malaysia by 9 billion ringgit ($2.12 billion) over the next two to three years, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday. "Just between now and 2035, gas production in Southeast Asia is expected to drop by around 20% ... and that needs to be backfilled," Shell CEO Wael Sawan told the conference. "And the most viable backfill is, of course, LNG because the infrastructure is already gas based." On Monday, French major TotalEnergies ( opens new tab acquired further stakes in Malaysian gas assets from state energy firm Petronas ( opens new tab. "This is where the population is growing I would say. So this is where we need more energy," CEO Patrick Pouyanne said. Italian major Eni ( opens new tab and Petronas are pressing ahead with a planned joint venture to develop gas assets in Indonesia and Malaysia with a deal expected to be signed by the end of this year. Japan's top explorer Inpex has returned to Malaysia and is working on exploring resources in six blocks offshore Sarawak and Sabah, on top of developing Indonesia's Abadi LNG project, CEO Takayuki Ueda told Reuters. "The demand for natural gas, especially LNG, will actually be increasing over a longer time after 2040, maybe up to 2050," he said. "Given the current, very uncertain and unpredictable geopolitical situation, one of the strategies that we are now taking is local production for local consumption," he added. ConocoPhillips (COP.N), opens new tab CEO Ryan Lance told local media that the U.S. major plans to invest in Sabah after it dropped the WL4-00 project in Sarawak. Natural gas or LNG is seen as the fuel for the region to replace coal and reduce emissions, while gas-fired power plants can also provide a stable power source for data centres. Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said the firm is working to serve a surge in power demand from data centres which is expected to more than double to 945 terawatt hours globally by 2030. "The entire energy systems at our disposal are now working to serve this surge in demand," he said. S&P Global vice chairman Daniel Yergin said gas now has a much bigger profile than it did a couple years ago. "Countries are not going to be able to generate the electricity they need for growth and for data centres without a bigger role for natural gas," he added.


Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
UK inflation was 3.4% in May, ONS says
LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - British inflation came in at an annual rate of 3.4% in May, down from an originally published 3.5% in April, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a reading of 3.4% in May, which the Bank of England had also projected in forecasts published last month. Earlier this month the ONS said April's consumer price inflation reading of 3.5% had been overstated by 0.1 percentage points due to an error in car tax data from the government. April's figures were not amended but the correct data was used for May's readings. Economists surveyed by Reuters and investors think the BoE will leave interest rates on hold when it announces its June policy decision on Thursday. Gas, electricity and water prices rose in April alongside higher taxes on employers, causing the inflation rate to leap from 2.6% in March. A rise in oil prices since the start of the Iran-Israel conflict last week could cause inflation to rise again. Some BoE officials have said they disagree with the central bank's key assumption at its May meeting that the climb in inflation will not have longer-running effects on pricing behaviour. Chief Economist Huw Pill said last month the pace of interest rate cuts was too fast given still strong wage pressures on inflation, but his vote in May to keep borrowing costs on hold was likely to be "a skip" not a halt to rate cuts. Market pricing on Tuesday pointed to an 87% chance that the BoE will leave rates on hold this week, with two 0.25 percentage-point cuts priced in by the year's end. The BoE lowered rates by a quarter point to 4.25% on May 8 in a three-way split vote, with two Monetary Policy Committee members favouring a bigger cut and two - including Pill - favouring a hold. The central bank said in May it expects inflation to peak at about 3.7% later this year. Some economists think April might prove to be the high point although the conflict in the Middle East poses a risk of stronger price pressures.


Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
Hasbro cuts 3% of its total workforce, WSJ reports
June 17 (Reuters) - Toymaker Hasbro (HAS.O), opens new tab has cut 3% of its global workforce in a cost-cutting push amid higher tariff environment, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Hasbro did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.